Tuesday’s ad is for Schlitz, from 1957. Furthering their murdering of the English language in Schlitzerland, shake hands with your “Schlitzsaler,” the man who sells the beer. “A man in your community you should know” indeed.
Friday’s ad is for Schlitz, from 1957. When “the fun begins at Schlitzo’clock.” The Schlitzfest ad campaign, and especially the accompany artwork, is one of my all-time favorites. I’ve even seen shirts made out of the art, but alas never in my size.
Wednesday’s ad is for Schlitz, from 1948. I love the look on her face, like she’s about to play a trick on someone, instead of simply delivering a beer. I know it was 1948, but it’s hard not to notice the servant/slave and husband/master relationship depicted in the ad. At least she looks happy in her subservience. He just looks clueless.
Tuesday’s ad is another one for Schlitz, from 1956. Showing another backyard barbecue, or “cookout,” it’s another group of well-dressed hipsters, enjoying some brewskis with grilled meat. The barbecue man is even wearing a chef’s hat and white apron. And according to the ad, Schlitz is not only the “World’s Largest-Selling Beer” but is also as “refreshing as all outdoors!”
Monday’s ad is for Schlitz, from 1954. Showing a backyard barbecue, or what was then called a “cookout,” the man working the grill is holding up his glass of beer while still sing his spatula on the burgers. I mentioned this in an earlier bbq ad, but again look at how dressed up they are for a cookout, the women in dresses and the men in what today we’d call business casual, though the guy in the pink shirt is sporting a tie. There’s lots of little details, like the odd facial expressions on the salt and pepper shakers next to the Schlitz sign in the lower left. The main man, the grillmaster, has shown up in a number of modern mash-ups, but this is the original ad he was taken from.
Friday’s ad is still another one for Schlitz, this one also from 1949. It, too, is part of their “I was curious” series that always features three panels. This one features a group of people on a fishing trip, with all of the men in flannel and two in hats — one a cap but the other is a fedora?!? I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone wearing a fedora camping before. There are five beer bottles on the tray, but only four people. Who’s that fifth bottle for?
Thursday’s ad is yet another one for Schlitz, this one from 1949. It, too, is part of their “I was curious” series that always features three panels. This one features two couples around a swimming pool. Despite the fact that at least one of them has been in the pool, all of their hair remains perfect. And I always thought that one of the advantages of cans was so that you wouldn’t accidentally break them in a place where people might be barefoot, like a swimming pool. But there folks got the cans, but are pouring them into what looks like glass, though perhaps they’re plastic glassware.
Wednesday’s ad is another one for Schlitz, also from 1950. It, too, is part of their “I was curious” series that always features three panels. This one features a backyard picnic where horseshoes are being played. I love how in the 1950s people dressed up for a picnic. The fellow in the yellow shirt even has matching socks.
Tuesday’s ad is for Schlitz, from 1950. It’s part of their “I was curious” series that always features three panels. This one features a scrapbook that, despite the fact that it would appear to be from a picturesque location, shows the person on vacation and his beer, but not the vistas they would have been looking at. Good thing whoever he was travelling with captured the moment he first saw Schlitz, and then the moment he first tasted it. Funny, that’s what my vacation shots look like, too.
Friday’s ad is for Schlitz, from 1952. Showing an illustration of three different scenes, a mountain lake, a picnic and a beach, it features a bottle of Schlitz being poured into a glass. It shows that all too common mistake of showing the glass full, but the bottle still has about its contents. My favorite bit of text is below the picnic: “That extra delicacy of flavor that delights the true beer lover.” You can also see the modesty of the fifties in the way the bikini-clad woman is partially hidden by the glass of beer, but it sets up a cool effect, seeing her through a beer-colored lens.
